Creekwalker's images explore vibrant beauty of Marin's watersheds

IT WAS A SIMPLE request — take photos of the schooling fish in a local creek so they could be identified.

For Sue Mace, an amateur photographer who calls herself Creekwalker, it was transformative.

"It's a place that I've come to really love," says the 52-year-old San Rafael resident. "Life is uncomplicated and happy for me when I arrive at a creek."

Mace has been photographing Marin's creeks ever since, as well as actively participating in their restoration.

Forty-eight of her photographs are included in "Reflections on Water: Marin Watershed Magic," an exhibit and sale at the Bay Model Visitor Center from Jan. 15 through Feb. 23 that benefits the Gallinas Watershed Council, a volunteer group that promotes watershed restoration, protection and education.

It's the first time her vibrant, abstract-like photographs have appeared outside of GWC's events and meetings. She's donating all the proceeds from sales to the GWC.

"She showed them to me and I was just like stunned," says Judy Schriebman, GWC secretary and a Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District board member, who was the one who asked Mace to photograph the creek. "Each one was, 'Oh my gosh, how did you do this?' She just has an incredible eye."

Mace prefers not to be photographed or even say much about herself. It's all about the watersheds, she says.

"Water is one of the most finite resources on earth. We have really made a negative impact on a lot of our natural waterways, so much so that our salmon are in danger," Mace says. "Restoration is not only a benefit to the natural community, but to our community as human beings."

Her photography speaks for itself, she says, and it does — the reflections Mace captures are an explosion of color, patterns, textures, shadows and light that look as if they have been Photoshopped or somehow manipulated or enhanced.

Absolutely not, she insists.

"I see the reflections on the water and just zoom into where the reflections are," Mace says of her technique. "It's just training your eye to see what's really there."

A self-taught photographer, Mace takes her photographs from inside the creeks, opting not to wear waterproof shoes or clothing.

"I like to feel all the nuances. I like the feel of being more a part of the creek. It enhances the experience," she says.

Her images may never have been seen by others if it weren't for a chance meeting with Joyce Clements, a celebrated artist and the Bolinas Museum's first executive director who got involved with the GWC shortly after moving to San Rafael from Bolinas about 18 months ago.

"When I saw these photos, I thought these are so fantastic we just have to share them," says Clements, the show's curator.

Clements has spent the last year going through thousands of Mace's images to pick ones she believes best illustrate the diversity and beauty of Marin's 100 creeks.

The exhibit will be the biggest fundraiser ever for the GWC, a fiscally sponsored project of MarinLink in the process of applying for 501(c) nonprofit status. Whatever money is raised from sales will be used for the group's educational outreach to make more people aware of creek restoration projects and its importance, Schriebman says.

"There's a lot of really important creek restorations going on all over the United States, California and other places. Marin is just starting to get involved in this," Schriebman says.

Everyone involved in the exhibit is hopeful that Mace's photographs will get more people to pay attention to Marin's creeks.

"My major hope is that it will inspire people to have a fresh-eyed look at creeks and what an incredible resource a restored watershed is," Schriebman says. "I think people love water. It's so vital for life, but I think we really love it, and a real creek does so much, for property values, and aesthetically and spiritually."

Vicki Larson can be reached at vlarson@marinij.com; follow her on Twitter at @OMGchronicles, fan her on Facebook at Vicki-Larson-OMG-Chronicles